The Palaces of Music

The Palaces of Music recalls three decades of a musical career which took composer Webster Young from the mountains of Southern Oregon to the palaces of the international music world, meeting such figures as Leonard Bernstein, Samuel Barber, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Peter Martins, Kurt Masur, Elaine Malbin, Cia Toscanini, and Placido Domingo. But he continually returned to the mountains of Oregon and the home of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, where he finally wrote his opera on "As You Like It". This was his 5th and most important opera, after writing symphonies, ballets, piano works, tangos, and salsa pieces. His works now number 170. Webster Young has been a writer on music for Newsday, the Intercollegiate Review, and the National Catholic Register. He was twice invited by the White House to be a candidate for Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. (US government) He is a published neoclassical composer, and was in the 1980's the most prolific composer for ballet in the US.Young's first book, The Naked Composer, received a Finalist Medal from USA Book News Awards.